Capp Primus
Human male, born LY 863, in Triscot. Younger brother of Poss Primus. Capo of LandOrder and don of its Kimrin branch. When Kimrin was founded in 879, Capp's clan were among its settlers (he was 16 at the time, while his brother was 35). It has often been remarked how uncommon it is for there to be a 19-year age gap between siblings. Their age difference, however, is not the most commonly discussed aspect of the brothers' relationship; rather, it is the fact that their careers took such wildly divergent paths. Neither of them talks much about the other, though it is well known that there has long been bad blood between the two, owing not only to their having chosen opposite sides of the law, but also to the circumstances of their parents' death in 886. Poss and Capp's parents were hard workers, having long been employed as farmers on the plantation of one of Triscot's noble clans, before setting off for Kimrin to start their own farm. While Kimrin never became nearly as affluent as Triscot, and none of its citizens as rich as many of Triscot's, their farm was among the more profitable ones in Kimrin. Poss had been in the Triscot police department since the age of 25 (starting in 869), and helped organize the Kimrin PD, when the village was founded ten years later. However, he didn't accept a position on the force for the first few years, opting instead to help his family get their farm up and running smoothly. Once it was clear that he was no longer needed, he joined the PD in 882, and by 885 had become its chief, upon the old chief's retirement. It was only a year later that his parents died; some have said that their funeral was the last time Poss ever saw his younger brother in person (prior to 912), though this is of course mere speculation. Capp himself had been a bit too young when still living in Triscot to have had a career, as his older brother had. He is believed to have spent some time helping his parents on the plantation where they worked, as Poss had before joining the police. However, around the time Capp turned 13 in 876, he and several of his friends joined a local gang called The Buccaneers (they were recruited by a member named Alphonse). While they did engage in some typical street gang-style shenanigans within the village, the Buccaneers more commonly styled themselves as pirates, sailing on the Triscot River. Of course, as was the case with most gangs for centuries prior to 899, this was more about playing than actually committing crimes (which is not to say they never robbed anyone). Three years after joining the gang, Capp's family moved to what would become Kimrin, and Capp reportedly did not handle the move well, being understandably upset about being forced to leave his friends behind. (It was around this time that Alphonse, who remained in Triscot, became leader of the Buccaneers.) However, Capp's parents as well as his older brother had little sympathy on that account, believing his friends to have been a bad influence on him. In spite of his frustration, Capp spent at least some of his time helping all the settlers build the new village, particularly helping his family start their farm. He also spent as much time as he could boating by himself on Kimrin Lake, and possibly also Slash River. Of course, once the farm was built, both Capp and Poss spent several years helping their parents run it. After a few years, the family could afford to hire farmhands, and in 882, Poss joined the Kimrin PD. Capp was now 19 years old, and though he had gotten over his initial frustration within a year after moving, and made new friends (mostly among his family's employees or their children), he was beginning to develop a new frustration. When his brother had first joined the Triscot PD, Capp had only been 6 years old, and so hadn't thought much about it at the time. (While some speculate that his joining a gang several years later may have been motivated by a sense of sibling rivalry, and wanting to do the opposite of what his brother did, most people agree that that is most likely over-analyzing the situation. It has always been perfectly common for many teenagers to join gangs, as a relatively harmless rite of passage which they ultimately outgrow.) But now, Capp was starting to resent his brother escaping the family business, and wanted to find a job of his own. Unfortunately, his work on the farm had left little time for studying, and he'd never had a master. Nor did he have any idea what sort of trade might interest him. So, for the time being, he continued working on his parents' farm, while spending most of his nights drinking in a local tavern (and occasionally getting into fights, which he always won). His frustration got even worse in 885, when Poss was promoted to chief of police. His resentment grew stronger because their parents wanted Capp to act more responsibly, by giving up drinking and brawling, which they said was unbecoming the brother of a police chief. And yet, Capp chose to channel his resentment in a constructive way; he did in fact give up brawling, and at least began to moderate his drinking. Instead, he spent as much of his free time as he could reading various subjects, hoping at least to broaden his intellect and at best to discover what trade he might like to pursue. In fact he realized that, at 22 years of age, he was still younger than Poss had been when he first joined the Triscot PD. And so with some effort, he might actually start his own career, whatever it might be, at a younger age (though of course he didn't expect this to happen right away). However, a major turning point in his life would come just one year later, in 886, as a result of his friendship with one of the farm hands his parents employed. A 15-year-old named Curtis, a part-time employee whose parents were among the first people the family had hired in 882, was complaining one day that there was nothing to do in his free time. He and his parents had moved from Tanq to Kimrin the year they were hired, when Curtis was 11. He told Capp that he remembered how before the move, he used to watch the older kids having fun in their gangs, and had looked forward to being old enough to join a gang, himself. But there were no gangs in Kimrin, so there were plenty of other kids who were feeling just as bored as he was. This led Capp to tell him stories of his own time with the Buccaneers, back in Triscot, which fueled Curtis's desire even further. Capp suggested that if, as he said, there were plenty of bored kids around, Curtis should just start a gang himself. Surely others would be willing to join. Perhaps he, Capp, might even give them a few pointers. Curtis gladly accepted this proposition, and soon founded Kimrin's first gang, the Mountaineers. They would occasionally hold meetings in the barn on farm, though this was only when Capp's parents were away. (Poss no longer lived in the family's house, as he rented an apartment in town.) One night, Poss and his parents came home earlier than expected, and, seeing a light in the barn, discovered Curtis and his friends there. (Capp wasn't home, as he was out enjoying one of his now rare nights out, himself.) Thinking the gang to be trespassers (which they sort of were), Poss and his father began threatening them unless they left. An altercation broke out, and while the details are unclear, it somehow ended in several striders being released from their stalls, in an agitated state. They trampled Curtis, as well as Capp and Poss's parents. While Curtis would eventually recover from his injuries, he was never quite the same. The farm's owners weren't so lucky; they both died of their injuries. When Poss learned that Capp had encouraged the kids to form a gang, he was furious. As chief of police, he had no choice but to accept the fact that his parents' deaths had been unintentional, but privately he couldn't get past the fact that this never would have happened if not for his brother's careless actions. Capp felt a certain degree of guilt himself, and couldn't face his brother, nor Curtis's parents. So he left home, with no idea what he was going to do now. However, he quickly decided that the Mountaineers needed greater discipline. He completely quit drinking (though in later years he would occasionally indulge to a small degree), and his demeanor became much more serious and focused than it had ever been before. While he wasn't sure what he wanted to do with his own life, he was sure that he didn't want any other kids ending up the way he had. So he personally assumed leadership of the Mountaineers, and began laying down rules of conduct for them, for their own good as well as the safety of anyone with whom they might have dealings (particularly potential robbery victims). He also insisted they spend some of their time educating themselves, and thinking about what they might want to do when they eventually grew up and quit the gang. In the years after that, a few other gangs would emerge in Kimrin, but none of them were of any great size or importance. In 897, The Order contacted various local officials in both Kimrin and Port, including Poss, who became instrumental in the establishment of the Northern Alliance. In 901, he would become general of the Army that was raised there. As such, he was one of the most important figures in the Coming of the Order. However, he was not the only one who would play a part in the Coming. Another aspect came in 899, when the Order began secretly influencing gangs around the world to begin organizing themselves, increasing their activities, and forming inter-village alliances with one another. Capp had a strong feeling that this would be beneficial to the gangs of other villages, which he believed would likely require someone to give them structure, as he had been doing for the Mountaineers for the past 13 years. He also believed in many of the goals of The Plan, particularly the establishment of a standardized school system. Of course, he also relished the knowledge that his brother wouldn't be the only one of them getting a piece of the action, nor would he be the only one with a right to claim responsibility for changing the world (even if he would be the only one of them who could make that claim publicly). And so, Capp would make contact with the leaders of gangs in other villages, including Cherilyn, the current head of the Buccaneers, back in his home village. She had been 13 herself, when Capp had moved to Kimrin, and at the time was the newest recruit of the gang. She remembered Capp from that time, though he barely remembered her, as she joined just a couple of months before he left. Now she was 33, and Capp was glad to find that her leadership of the Buccaneers was much the same, in some ways, as his own leadership of the Mountaineers. (Of course, she did have some touches which were uniquely her own, to say the least. In spite of retaining the name 'Buccaneers,' the gang was now barely involved in anything resembling piracy, except for occasional nods to tradition. If Capp found that somewhat disappointing, he also admitted to a certain fondness for, and amusement at, some of the changes she'd made.) For her part, Cherilyn was amused to learn that his gang's name had the same suffix as hers. The two of them also met with Don, head of Plist's Chieftains, and Roger, head of First Village's Con Brigade. These became the first four branches of the new inter-village gang LandOrder, and the four leaders came to be known as the "Big Four." (At that time, they chose to begin calling the head of a village's gang a 'don' rather than simply leader, in honor of Don of Plist; and the head of an inter-village gang a 'capo', in honor of Capp. These terms, however, also had some basis as subwords from Earth, even if the Landian gangsters used the words as suited them, whether or not their usage was necessarily the same as the original Terran usage.) They would, of course, have contact with people from other villages, most notably agents of Durell of Sorret, who sent out Sorreters to work with the various gangs. One of these agents, Merv, quickly became a good friend of Capp's, as well as Chief Sorreter of the Kimrin branch of LandOrder. In the years that followed, LandOrder would continue to add more branches in other villages. In 904, after the passing of the surname law, Poss and Capp both took the name Primus. The name means "first," and for Capp it refers to being the head of the LandOrder. It's unknown if he and his brother had any discussion about the name at the time, or whether one chose it first and the other later chose it after hearing his brother had assumed the name. It should be noted that in spite of their differences, Poss and Capp Primus have much in common. For one thing, they are both tall, powerfully built, dark-haired men, with rugged features. Many people find their stature imposing. They are both quite dedicated to the people under their command, but also demand excellence and integrity from those subordinates (even if many people would question the intrinsic integrity of those who work for Capp). Both are greatly respected by those they command. They are both of a serious disposition, especially since their parents' death, but both also are capable of relaxing and enjoying themselves, when "off duty." Both are intelligent and strong-willed, and both have a tendency to exercise caution, but are willing and able to make bold moves when necessary. They both have relatively few friends, but have a deep appreciation for and strong bond with those friends. It should further be noted that in 912, they each individually forged an unexpected alliance with The Chaos, which ultimately renewed contact between the brothers, to some degree. Of course, they're still on opposite sides of the law, and so their relationship remains somewhat distant. For Capp's part, this alliance came somewhat earlier than it did for Poss. It was a result of an odd chain of events, starting with Don Chieftain keeping tabs on Darius Lonewander and The Band, as a personal hobby, before anyone even knew they were calling themselves "The Chaos," nor what they were ultimately planning. This led to InterGang taking an interest in the Chaos, which was further complicated by the machinations of Larami Illuminatus. It seems quite random that all this ultimately led to an alliance between LandOrder and the Chaos, and it is unclear to what degree the arrangement was beneficial to either group, particularly LandOrder. In any event, it was a fairly short-lived alliance, ending not long after the Chaos War. Category:People